THIRTY THREE: A Long Night

Dash's hand was gentle yet firm against Kel's cheek, telling her that he wouldn't allow her to move out of the way.

His short hot breaths made her lips feel feverish as his mouth drew closer to hers.

She wasn't afraid of the kiss nor was she excited. Mostly, she just felt odd. Her body was light and mind hazy. The events happening in front of her unfolded slowly yet didn't seem to be happening at all.

In the end, it wasn't Dash's lips, but his thumb that made contact with Kel's slightly ajar mouth.

"Haaa," he slumped over with a sigh, gingerly retracting his hand.

Kel sat frozen in place, waiting for time to catch up to her spinning mind.

"You should sleep here," Dash remarked, suddenly straightening up. "You won't be likely to get past them tonight anyway."

He stomped across the room to a door Kel hadn't noticed before and opened it.

"You can take the bed," he mumbled, gesturing to the dark room behind the door.

"Dash…"

"I'll sleep out here."

"Dash. What was that?"

"Please just go to bed."

Kel could see the muscles in Dash's neck protrude as he swallowed. It was clear that he was holding back something; Kel just couldn't understand what it was. As hard as she tried to picture the boy she grew up with, that persona didn't quite fit the stranger in front of her.

Whatever it was that had just happened between them, her insides felt as though they were tied in knots. She was confused and uneasy and wanted nothing more than to run straight back out into the streets.

"Keliyah," Dash gritted, holding a trembling fist against the wall. "Stay here. Please."

She hadn't realized how hard she was staring at the door.

Trying her best to drown her discomfort, she reluctantly pulled her gaze away from her only escape. Dash did have a point, she told herself. The Pantheon's men were probably swarming all over the streets by now, waiting for her to resurface. Her best chance to slip past was by blending into the morning crowds.

"Alright," Kel conceded. "I'll stay here."

Though she'd said that, sleeping under the same roof as Dash, an unfamiliar one at that, proved to be impossible.

Kel sat on the cold floor next to the bed, hugging her knees to her chest as countless gloomy minutes ticked by.

The small room was soaked with Dash's scent, the bed more so than anything else. Consumed by the wildfire of confusion, anger and pain, she found it difficult to even close her eyes. Every time she did happen to nod off, torturous dreams dragged her back to reality.

On top of everything, she couldn't stop worrying about the fact that she missed the meet up with Thane. The whispers on the streets about the thief from the Pantheon Masquerades would have certainly reached his ears. Normally, one could assume that a trained soldier had taken shelter and just plan another meet up.

The problem, however, was that the emperor and his people didn't know that Kel was a trained soldier.

"I just hope I won't be scolded too much tomorrow," she muttered, feeling herself drifting off to sleep again.

At some ungodly hour of the morning, after startling awake from her most recent nightmare, she decided to go see if Dash was having as much trouble as she was.

She lit the candle sitting near the bed and carefully crept back into the main room.

"Dash," she hissed into the darkness, using her hand to conceal the candle's light so as to not wake him if he was already sleeping.

She squinted, trying to decide which silhouette belonged to Dash, when she had a thought.

What am I being considerate of his sleep for, anyway??

Snorting at herself, she let the orange flickering light fill the room.

It only took a few seconds to realize that Dash wasn't there.

"Where could he have gone to," she murmured, glancing around the desolate room.

Suddenly, her chest tightened. What if this was another trap? Were the guards from the Pantheon Masquerades going to storm in at any moment?

With the sound of blood rushing in her ears, Kel stumbled back into the bedroom to retrieve her cloak and shoes. Unbearable nausea gripped her stomach while dizziness overwhelmed her senses.

A trap.

It's a trap.

I have to escape.

Her trembling fingers refused to work as she directed them, so she slung her cloak and boots over her shoulder and shuffled out of the house.

Her breath came out in thick white puffs as she walked in no particular direction.

Away. I have to get away.

Her bare feet were already torn by the freezing gravelly road by the time she encountered one of the guards.

"Princess," a tall soldier called out in a loud voice, approaching her from behind.

"N-no," Kel stuttered. She tried to run but tripped over her numb battered toes.

The pain of smashing into the ground didn't even register. Pushing herself up to her hands and knees, Kel immediately began crawling until found herself unable to move any further.

The soldier had a hold of the back of her clothes, and the dress effectively acted as a leash.

"Get away!" She screamed, rolling to the side. The soldier let go at the sound of ripping material.

"Princess…" he lowered his voice, crouching next to her. "It's me, Roland. Please calm down."

"Roland?" Forcing her blurred eyes to focus, the man's familiar face came into view.

By some dumb stroke of luck, she'd encountered one of the emperor's men before one of Spencer Regan's.

Kel couldn't recall what happened after that or how she got back to the palace, but she awoke the next morning in her bed in the west building of the palace.

Her head was pounding, and various points of her body stung.

"Urgh," she groaned in pain as she sat up. Everything after leaving Dash's house was a black hole in her memory.

As she sat, head in her hands, loud voices erupted outside, and her door suddenly flew open.

"Ah, Your Maje-"

"What were you thinking?" The Dragon Emperor's voice was deep and full of rage.